Let ABCD be a cyclic quadrilateral. The side lengths of ABCD are distinct integers less than 15 such that BC⋅CD=AB⋅DA. What is the largest possible value of BD?
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Solution
Let a=AB,b=BC,c=CD,d=DA and k=bc=ad. Writing each triangle’s area in terms of the circumradius and using [ABC]+[CDA]=[BCD]+[ABD] gives (ab+cd)⋅AC=2k⋅BD.
Ptolemy’s theorem gives AC⋅BD=ac+bd. Eliminating AC,BD2=2k(ac+bd)(ab+cd)=21(a2+b2+c2+d2).
The sides are distinct integers below 15 with bc=ad, so neither 11 nor 13 can appear (each is prime and would need a matching factor on the other side).
If the largest side is at most 12, the four squares sum to at most 122+102+92+82=389, because 11 is unavailable.
Now suppose the largest side is 14, and write the others as s1>s2>s3. The product condition must pair 14 with s3, so 14s3=s1s2. Hence one of s1,s2 equals 7. If s1=7, the sum of squares is less than 142+72+62+52=306. If s2=7, then s1=2s3, so the largest possibility is (s1,s2,s3)=(12,7,6). Thus 2BD2=142+122+72+62=425, so BD≤2425. Equality is attained by the cyclic quadrilateral with side order (a,b,c,d)=(14,12,7,6), for which bc=ad=84.
Thus, the correct answer is D.